Naivasha, March 15, 2026 — The 74th edition of the Safari Rally, round three of the World Rally Championship, has come to a close after four days of competition on the gravel, volcanic roads around Naivasha, Kenya, held March 12–15. The event comprised 20 special stages totalling 350.52 km and ended in a historic triumph for Takamoto Katsuta.
The rally got underway on Thursday with a shakedown stage and the first two special stages of the competition. The shakedown, on the 6.31 km Nawisa stage, took place in the morning, with the official start in Naivasha set for 3:00 pm local time. Even on day one, the demanding nature of the route was evident, with Thierry Neuville suffering a puncture, Esapekki Lappi hit by a gearbox failure, and Ott Tänak forced out of contention.
Friday was the longest day of the rally, featuring eight special stages totalling 137.19 km. Crews tackled Camp Moran, Loldia, Kengen Geothermal and Kedong twice each, with the day closing on the Mzabibu stage. Loldia proved to be the longest stage of the entire rally, climbing to an altitude of 2,600 metres, while Kedong, featuring new sections this year, remained one of the fastest tests of the event. It was on Friday afternoon that Katsuta lost significant time to a double puncture, dropping him to seventh overall with a deficit of almost two minutes to the leader.
Saturday, regarded as the most crucial and demanding leg of the rally, brought six special stages totalling 122.72 km — two runs each on Soysambu, Elmenteita and Sleeping Warrior, the latter considered the most iconic test of the modern Safari Rally. The route was littered with mud, rocks and technical forested sections interspersed with fast savannah running. Katsuta, focused on avoiding mistakes, steadily climbed the order and took the overall lead before the midday service in Naivasha. The afternoon brought further twists, as overnight leader Oliver Solberg was eliminated by a clutch failure and Sébastien Ogier’s rally ended with an electrical fault. By the close of day two, Katsuta held the lead by one minute and 25.5 seconds. Hyundai also had a difficult day — Thierry Neuville struggled throughout, and his Belgian team-mate slipped down the order after two punctures, though Adrien Fourmaux managed to deliver the marque’s best result of the season.
Sunday’s shortest leg comprised four special stages totalling 57.4 km, with two runs each on Oserengoni and Hell’s Gate — the latter, staged in spectacular cliff scenery, serving as the rally’s decisive Power Stage. With a comfortable cushion, Katsuta chose not to fight for stage wins and instead carefully managed his pace, crossing the finish line with a margin of 27.4 seconds and a total time of 3 hours, 16 minutes and 5.6 seconds. It was his first ever WRC round victory, coming in his 94th start, and made him only the second Japanese driver in history to win a round of the FIA World Rally Championship, following Kenjiro Shinozuki’s wins at the Ivory Coast Rally in 1991 and 1992. Kenyan president William Ruto was present at the finish in Naivasha and personally presented Katsuta with the winner’s trophy.
Second place went to Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1), recording the team’s best result of the season. The podium was completed by Finland’s Sami Pajari, who missed out on an even better result after a puncture on the penultimate day. In WRC2, Robert Virves took a double stage win and moved into the category championship lead, level on points with Roope Korhonen and Léo Louka. Among the Rally2 crews, Gus Greensmith stood out, finishing sixth overall and second in WRC2 on his debut behind the wheel of the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, while Diego Domínguez finished ninth overall and fifth in WRC2.
The Kenya win marked Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team’s sixth consecutive victory in this legendary African event. For Katsuta, the result also brought a boost in the championship standings — the Japanese driver held on to third place, cutting his deficit to his Swedish team-mate to just three points. Fourmaux consolidated his fourth position in the table, while Neuville, after a series of punctures in Kenya, dropped to seventh in the overall drivers’ standings.
The World Rally Championship now moves on to Croatia, where round four will take place April 9–12 after a year’s absence from the calendar — this time based in the coastal city of Rijeka.
